payers, toll payers who have little or no choice but to pay much more in tolls than their fellow citizens, even within the same region. in order to address these inequities for toll payers, many states, local governments, and local transportation agencies have enacted toll and fare discount programs. my district of staten island and brooklyn new york suffers from some of the highest toll burdens in the nation. in fact, per capita, staten island is the highest tolled county in the united states. the cost of these tolls are truly outrageous. to put this issue in context for my colleagues, let me give you examples. the toll on the bridge which connects staten island and brooklyn sides of my district now costs $11 and it's scheduled to increase to $12 in the next few months. it may be hard for many americans to believe, but discussions are already under way to further increase the toll on the bridge to $13 in

the coming years. $13, just to cross a bridge. to visit a relative to go to school to go to work or just to get off the island. it is not much better on all other bridges surrounding staten island. the outer bridge crossing and others to new jersey each costs $8. staten islanders are truly captive toll payers. they have no choice but to pay the tolls if they want to get back on the island, no matter which way they travel. to help alleviate the situation, the metropolitan transit authority and the authority of new york and new jersey, the transportation authorities that run the bridges, have instituted a series of residential discount programs for stat ion landers that reduce the amount islanders pay for these bridges, sometimes reducing the cost by almost 50%. many of these discounts have been in place for a decade or

more. but even with the discounts, staten islanders pay almost $500 million -- $500 million in tolls, every year. making it more than 7% of all tolls paid nationwide, even though staten island represents less than .16% or 1/600th of u.s. population. these situations take into account the tolls with the residential discouldn'ts -- discounts in effect. but my district is not unique. many other states and localities grant discounts to captive toll players, including the massachusetts turnpike, the sumner and ted williams tunnels in boston, the marine parkway and cross vets parkway in queens, the bridge in the

hudson valley of new york, the delaware bay bridge, the rhode island turnpike and the new port bell bridge in rhode island, just to name a few. in the last few years, many of these discount programs have come under attack in the ports. last october in a case entitled sullivan versus the new york throughway authority, they held that toll discounts for residents of towns bordering the tollway may be unconstitutional. the plaintiffs claimed the residential toll discount tolls may be a dormant clause violation. the second circuit court demanded and reinstated the action which will must've forward. h.r. 4960 provides express congressional authorization for the discounts and makes clear that residential toll and fare

discounts are constitutional, fair and necessary to help alleviate the toll burdens paid by captive toll payers across the nation. s that national issue, affecting every person in communities burdened by high tolls and faresmark of whom would be unable to travel without the discounts. let me be clear about a few things. first, the bill does not limit the ability of states, local governments, or local transportation agencies to provide discounts to captive toll payers or other toll payers, nor does this bill provide additional federal authority over state or local decision making and the bill actually safeguards current state and local power. all this bill actually does is to provide an extra layer of protection against court challenges for the state, local governments and local transportation agencies that choose to offer discounts to

captive toll payers like the people i represent who suffer disproportionate toll burdens. since article 1, section 8 of the united states constitution gives congress, quote, the power to regulate commerce, among the several states, h.r. 3960 provides an express -- express congressional state thament under that provision, supporting the current ability of states, local governments and local transportation agencies to issue discounts to captive toll payers. however, toll discounts of government actions designed to give preferential treatment to residents of their state at the cost of other states will receive no support from this and will likely be struck down by the court under the commerce clause. i urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation and i thank chairman oberstar and chairman defazio and their terrific staffs for working with me to revise the bill to make sure we help captive toll

players. i also thank the legislative director, jeff sea gal, a staten islander who grew up paying these tolls and knows quite well the inequity that exists. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the gentleman from in -- from new york did an excellent job explaining how important this legislation is, it's a common sense approach to solving a problem. i support -- support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york. mr. mcmahon: does the gentleman have more speakers? he yielded? i yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3960 as amended? those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. mcmahon: i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 6016 as amended, the audit the b.p. fund act of 2010. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6016 a bill to provide for a g.a.o. investigation and audit of the operations of the fund created by b.p. to compensate persons

affected by the gulf oil spill. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. mcmahon, and the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lobiondo, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. mcmahon: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 6016. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcmahon: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcmahon: mr. speaker, h.r. 6016 requires the comptroller general of the government accountability office to conduct an independent investigation audit of the fund and claims process created by b.p. after the deepwater horizon disaster.

this fund was started by b.p. to ensure that the lives and livelihoods of those adversely affected by the massive oil spill are duly compensated for their losses. mr. speaker, it is clear that the deepwater horizon oil spill disaster caused immeasurable damage to both the livelihoods of the gulf coast population and the gulf coast ecosystem. from the outset, b.p. volunteered it would compensate victims of the spill for their losses. however, as with any process for compensation, there's a need for transparency, efficiency and equity in compensation. this legislation can provide another avenue to ensure the essential elements are included in any combination paid out of the b.p. fund process. i have leng thinker remarks which -- lengthier remark which is i will submit for the record. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman

from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from texas, mr. brady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: thanks, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank my friend from new jersey, mr. lobiondo, for yielding. i rise in support of the audit the b.p. fund act 2010. i urge support for the bill that will provide for an ongoing independent government accountability office invest audit of the operations of the compensation fund created by b.p. to reimburse those who were harmed by the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill in the gulf of mexico beginning on april 20, 2010. the bill specifically determines the effectiveness, including the timeliness of claims payments and the acura soif the operations and the amount of money compensated. i believe the b.p. fund was established to make whole those who have damaged or destroyed by the disaster.

$20 million is a tremendous amount of money and can go a long way to compensate gulf coast victims of the spill. we must ensure the compensation is done fairly, without bias, political pressure or fraud. we have heard complaints from state and local attorneys critical of overly restrictive terms, others said there has not been enough time to assess the damages, others are concerned fraudsters will take money away from those honest families and businesses waiting for their dollars. thus far the fund has paid out $400 million to 30,000 claimants. that's about 2% of the fund. that is slow. we think it's a little too inefficient for those who have been damaged. this is precisely why we need this bill to ensure that the fund functions as it should. with that, i urge support for h.r. 6016 and mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from new york. mr. mcmahon: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. mcmahon: i support this legislation and yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 6016 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1646. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1646, resolution recognizing the commitment and effort made by the library of congress to promote the joy of reading through the sponsorship of the national book festival. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. davis, and the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. mrs. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in the record and include extraneous

matter. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. davis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. davis: today we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the national book festival. the library of congress' commitment to the spread of knowledge is well known, so is their unbridled joy of books and reading. i am pleased to be a member of the committee and would like to congratulate the library of congress on another successful national book festival and laud their effort to spread the joy and wonder of reading. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. lungren: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: i rise in support of h.res. 1646. i was privileged to be the main sponsor of this but this is one of those unique bills where every single member of the committee, democrat and

republican, sponsored it. that is not unusual in the sense that the goal of this bill is to celebrate one of the greatest gifts we can give our children, that is, the gift of reading. the first library of congress national book festival was held on september 8, 2001, so this year, it celebrates its 10th anniversary with another highly attended all-day event and remarkable panoply of authors. the national book festival has only grown in popularity over the last decade and this year's estimate is other 150,000 individuals atended the 2010 festival this past saturday. the festival demonstrates the importance of literacy, creativity, and imagination in our schools, our young people, and throughout our society. the festival vividly brings to life the richness of books and fosters a life-long love of reading. so we congratulate the library of congress for its achievements in hosting the festival and wish them continued success.

i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and thank you very much, mr. speaker, as i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. mrs. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. i am pleased to join with my colleague in recognizing the successful annual book festival. it did set a new attendance record and we're delithe and look forward to next year. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1646. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended. the resolution is agreed to, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? mrs. davis: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 125 as

amended. the clerk: h.r. 512, the bill to amend the federal act of 1971 to prohibit certain state elections -- administration officials from actively participating in campaigns. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. davis, and the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, each will control 20 minutes. mrs. davis: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend my remarks and to include extraneous matter on this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. davis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. davis: h.r. 512 offers each member of this body the opportunity to help americans feel confident that their electoral process is fair and their interests are protected.

this legislation that we're considering today would take the long overdue step, prohibiting chief election officials from playing a leadership role in the political campaigns of federal candidates in elections over which they have supervisory authority. and that includes using their name, serving on a campaign committee, fundraising, or using their official office to interfere or effect the results of -- or affect the results of an election. when i first introduce this, they gave it h.r. number 101. i thought that was fitting. this bill is so basic, you could call it election officiating 101. and as any novice knows, when the outcome of a contest is determined by judges, steps are taken to ensure that the judging is impartial so that everyone

involved knows that the contest is fair, that they have confidence in the results, and that they want to participate. to act ifly support one side and to be abjudge is unthinkable in every kind of competition i can think of. except, mr. speaker, one. our elections, the most important contest in our country. that's right. under current law, people probably are surprised by this. under current law, a chief election official, the person who actually is certifying the final validity of the results, can be actively backing a side by giving a candidate money, or other support. it is the equivalent of a person being player and referee at the

same time. in sports, everyone knows who the refs are, because they wear the stripes. in elections, the officials can actually run plays on the field and blow the whistle, all while wearing team jerseys and being head of the booster club. the election official may be and probably is, i would suspect mostly is, making the right call . but it doesn't look unbiased, and it certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the system and in the results. as a former president of the league of women voters in san diego and a proud american voter myself, i know that election officials are entrusted with the crucial responsibility for our democracy. their only allegiance must be to the will of the voters, not to partisan political agendas or

special interests. americans are craving good government solutions to problems facing our country, and this legislation is just that. congress should not wait for another fla or ohio before passing a bill that should not be a partisan fight. in fact, this isn't a partisan issue. it's an issue of preserving the american people's fate in the -- faith in the integrity of our democracy. this bill will finally close the door on an inherent conflict of interest. it certainly won't solve everything, but it will help prevent future controversies. those who wanted to oppose this bill can come up with all kinds of excuses for their position. but let's be clear.

a vote against this bill is a vote for allowing those who certify our elections to fundraise and rally for candidates of their choice. if you want our elections to appear tainted, then go ahead and vote against this bill. but if you think election officials should join federal judges in refraining from political activity, then i hope my colleagues will join me in voting for this bill. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. lungren: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm sorry that after the wonderful bipartisanship on the last vote today, i have to rise in opposition to h.r. 512. when i heard the gentlelady talking about the analogy to a

football referee, having a conflict with the team playing, i was reminded of the game i saw this last weekend, where unfortunately, my alma mater of notre dame didn't do too well against a pac-10 team with pac-10 referees. as a matter of fact, there was one case where it was clear that the full back for stanford didn't even come close to making a first down, and yet, with some myopic vision, they were given a first down. but i would not suggest there was a conflict there. the way we played, we would have lost anyway. i would say that we should proceed with great caution before depriving any individual state official or non-state official of their full rights as citizens to participate in the electoral process. unfortunately, i feel the majority is preceded with h.r. 512 with justification. the bill does allow the administrator from taking an active role if a political campaign of any federal office. while this bill places

significant restrictions on the abilities of secretaries of state to participate in the political process, it does so in my judgment without producing any justification why such a drastic action is warranted. restricting secretaries of states from their first amendment right to speak without any history of abuse is a dangerous precedent this house should not undertake. i noticed that in the bill before us, we have exceptions. that is if the secretary of state is himself or herself running for federal office, they continue to be the secretary of state and the chief election officer. the analogy that was drawn between this situation and a federal judge is an inept analogy, because i believe under the ethics, a federal judge cannot run for another federal office while still occupying the position of federal judge. also, if an immediate family member is running for federal office, the election officer of the state is not prohibited. it would seem to me that if

you're going to argue for this bill on the basis of a conflict of interest, why do you exempt the greatest conflict of interest that there would be? that is, if the election officer is running for federal office, she is allowed to do so and continue to be the chief election officer. if one of her immediate family members is running, she is allowed to continue to parties tate, or he, to participate fully in all of that election process. now, if in fact the concern of the majority is that there is a conflict of interest, it is interesting that what most people would consider to be the greatest example of a conflict of interest is not covered here. now, i will listen to the majority as they tell us why that happens. perhaps it is what we call that difficult truth. the constitution might come in play here. but i would just wonder why if they are going to say this is

absolutely necessary and that any of us who vote against it must want conflicts of interest, must wish that we have this cloud over our elections to exist, why those situations which would seem to be the greatest opportunity for that concern are specifically exempted under the terms of this bill. we can all agree that if someone is breaking the law and abusing their power to try to skew elections, they should be prosecuted accordingly. if, for instance, someone is standing outside a polling place with a billy club in his hand, and is making threatening gestures to people as they come before him, have to pass by him to vote, and this person has had a record of saying that crackers' babies ought to be killed and stands on the street

corner condemning racially mixed couples, and yet we have a justice department which says that that doesn't violate any laws. maybe i would be a little more concerned about the bill before us if i found any evidence whatsoever of the other side being concerned about the new black panther party standing there, all dressed in black, with a billy club, as people come forward and the individual -- one of the two individuals is known as someone who has made those kinds of threats against somebody else merely because they are of another race. if we want to bring that forward, i think we could get a strong vote of support here. we can't even get a hearing on that. haven't heard a thing from our judiciary committee. it's more important to bring col

pair in -- colbert in. maybe we ought to have him in character as he was on the day of election. maybe then we'd be getting down to our concern for treatment, equal treatment of each and every voter in america. but when you have a justice department which decides they are not going to treat people equally based on their race, as was testified to last week, last friday at the same time on the same day as mr. colbert was gracing us with his presence in our judiciary committee, and we had this rush, this tremendous rush of cameras to cover him, and we have very little coverage of the amazingly -- the amazing

testimony about terrible decisions that were made in the justice department and the voting rights section of the civil rights division. that ought to be what we take our time discussing here. i'm not trying to denigrate the gentlelady's efforts here. i understand her sincerity in this bill. we have a dispute over whether this bill is the proper response to the situation she sees. but i find it very, very interesting that we can find time to bring comedians to washington, d.c. to testify before committees, but we can't find the time with the committees of jurisdiction to investigate what appears to be an absolute disgrace with respect to the protection of individuals. i would just ask this question. if instead of the new black panther party there, you had the new klux klan with billy clubs standing in front of a voting

place with blacks and whites coming in, whether we would not have raised our voices in protest against that and demanded that the law, the full extent of the law be brought against those people. but no, we find ourselves too busy doing other things. bringing comedians to washington, d.c. and forgetting about something taking place at that exact moment, where a career attorney in the justice department, who's been banished -- i don't mean to say that, it might be someone's state here, i apologize that -- who has been sent away from main justice, and the basic responsibility he's had for protecting the rights of citizens and their votes, where he has testified, and yet we couldn't spend the time to pay attention to him, nor have we scheduled any hearings whatsoever in this congress. something is wrong.

i don't in any way suggest the gentlelady has anything to do with that, or that this bill interferes with it. i'm trying to show the contrast of what i happen to think is an immediate problem, as opposed to the potential problem the gentlelady here has spoken about. it is an immediate problem when you have a situation with people with billy clubs standing in front of a voting poll with a reputation for having talked about the fact that people need to kill babies for the very reason that they happen to be of another race. that ought to outrage americans. it ought to outrage every one of us here. and it ought to outrage everybody at the justice department. thus far, it has not. i would -- i would ask the gentlelady whether she has any speakers because i'll either yield back my time -- so with, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the gentlewoman from california.

mrs. davis: i think one of the first things my colleague said was this was drastic legislation and yet he went on to think about how he might expand it. i appreciate the issues he is referring to. those are issues that in fact the justice department is looking at. a number of allegations that they're looking at. but that's not part of this bill. and i go back and i ask my colleagues, please, read the bill. the bill talks about an active part that a chief elections -- chief state elections official might take in political management or in a political campaign. which means serving as a member of an authorized committee of a candidate for federal office, or the use, the use of official authority, official authority, to influence for the purpose of

interfering with or affecting the results of an election for federal office. that's a very different situation than what my colleague is referring to. he seems to be concerned about the secretaries of state. i respect him greatly. a lot of them support this bill. some of them don't. i'm not sure if i understand why they don't. because what we're doing here is talking about not them, so much, as the voters. it is about the voters. most important -- the most important thing is that voters trust that elections are fair. and my colleagues would suggest that maybe there shouldn't be any rules. but i think we do have some rules. it's important that we have them. we have them for judges as well. so i think we need to understand what's in this bill. it is not solving all the

problems that have been raised, but it's solving a very important one for voters and they do need to feel, and we saw it happen in our history, in our pretty recent history, that it's an issue for people. it should be. why shouldn't people be concerned that their state official person who is overseeing, who is supervising elections, doesn't have a bias that is quite clear? you know, mr. speaker, many years ago, i was very active with the league of women voters and one of the rules is if you're a key official, a vice president overseeing the election process for that organization, for the community, or president. that you don't get involved in political activity. one of the rules. i thought it was a great rule. i was happy to adhere to it. this gets to be serious business.

because we have people out in the streets and we know that. because they were concerned about this issue. so i think this is important. it's very narrowly drawn, of course, and it should be, and i would certainly hope that my colleagues would really take a serious look at this because we need to ensure that voters trust the election. that's what this is about and i believe that they have every right and we have every right to make certain that that judgment is there and that there's nothing that gets in the way between the voters and the political process. remember are, these are federal elections. article 1, section 4 of the constitution gives congress the authority to make laws governing the time, the place, and the manner of holding federal elections. this is in our purview.

i urge my colleagues to support this measure. i yield back the balance of my time. oh, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. mrs. davis: i yield back. i'm sorry. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 512? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. h.r. 512 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- mr. lungren: on that, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? mrs. davis: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5717 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 355, h.r. 5717, a bill to authorize the board of rejeents of the smithsonian institution to plan, design and construct a facility and enter into agreements relating to education programs at the national zoological park facility in virginia and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. davis, and the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the jovepl from california. mrs. davis: thank you. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in the record and include extraneous

matter on this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. davis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. davis: h r. 5717 would upgrade the smithsonian institution's scientific activities at its unique facility, the smithsonian institute at fort royal, virginia. in the interest of time, i understand that there is consensus on this legislation, i will reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: it is a pleasure to rise in support of h.r. 5717. one again, we are back in a bipartisan state, supporting this bill.

mr. speaker, the smithsonian institution is an invaluable part of our national heritage. our ongoing commitment to historic preservation and scientific advancement. i'm pleased to support this legislation sponsored by our friend and colleague, sam johnson. this legislation will help further the institution's founding mission, to support and increase the diffusion of knowledge. this authorizing legislation supporting their important biological work at the national zoological part and strengthens their partnership with george mason university in these efforts. the planned renovation and construction which leverages a moderate investment with significant nonfederal funds will enhance the legislation and training programs under way. the smithsonian is truly a unique part of our american culture. i am pleased to support this authorization which helps the

smithsonian maintain its well-deserved international reputation for excellence in scientific discovery and advancement and its continued commitment to the environment that we must steward. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 5717 and if the gentlelady has no other speakers, i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the gentlewoman from california. mrs. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i am prepared to yield back as well, i certainly support the smithsonian in this effort and look forward to passage of this important legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5717 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 6198 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6198, a bill to amend title 11 of the united states code to make technical corrections and for related purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: thank you, mr.

speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scott: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scott: five years ago, the bankruptcy abuse and prevention and consumer protection act of 2005 was enacted into law. it exceeded 500 pages in length and made significant changes to our country's bankruptcy law. since the enactment, drafting errors have been identified, including mistaken cross references, grammatical and spelling errors and mistakes in punctuation. this bill corrects these purely technical errors. i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record at this point a section by section analysis of the bill that we are considering today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scott: i murge my

colleagues to -- i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 6198 and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: the bankruptcy technical corrections act of 2010 contains a number of useful spelling, grammatical and other purely technical amendments to the bankruptcy code. these amendments will facilitate the work of bankruptcy lawyers and judges. when anyone provision of law is unclear or its text inaccurate, lawyers and judges may become confused about how congress intends the law to operate. sometimes legislative inaccuracies open the door to judicial activism. it is particularly important that the brutches code be error free as the number of bankruptcy filings continues to rise. last week, economists at the national bureau of economic research told us that the recession technically ended in june, 2009. but the american people have not seen the end of the

recession's effects. the number of bankruptcy filings by small businesses and individuals continues to increase at a rate of about 30% per year. the bill under consideration today adopt miss amendments suggested by the administrative office of the united states courts. the administrative office cug jested these changes in consultation with bankruptcy practitioners and i expect the bill to have a more user friendly bankruptcy code. it is important to highlight on the record that this bill does not and is not intended to enact any substantive change to the bankruptcy code. the changes made to the code by this bill are purely technical in nature. no federal judge should interpret any provision of the bill to confer, modify, or delete any bankruptcy right nor should anyone confer congressional intent to change the rights in one section of the -- of the code and not

another. i am pleased to co-sponsor the technical corrections bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scott: mr. speaker, there were strong differences of opinion about the changes made in 2005, sm of us questioned whether the changes were justify and whether they were fair or constructive. those questions are left to another day this bill before us today is simply a technical cleanup of the 2005 legislation. i'd like to thank the ranking member of the full committee, mr. smith, for making this a bipartisan effort, i urge my colleagues to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 6198 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3

being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended. the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4113 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4113, a bill to amend title 28, united states code, to clarify the jurisdiction of the federal courts and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend my remarks and include extraneous material in the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scott: i yield myself as much time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scott: mr. speaker, the clarification act of 2010 is intended to clarify a number of uncertainties and technical flaws and laws regarding federal court jurisdiction and venue that have come to light in recent years. let me just cite one example. under current law, we have an odd scenario where state law claims can be brought in federal court using diversity of citizenship basis for federal jurisdiction, even though both parties are residents of the same state, but because one party is a permanent resident, not a citizen, they claim diversity of citizenship. h.r. 4113 makes clear that a permanent legal resident is treated the same as citizens for the purpose of diversity of citizenship. there are many other technical clarifications in the bill like that, and i would like to thank our ranking member of the full committee, mr. smith, for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor, and i urge my

colleagues to support the bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, the federal courts and clarification act brings more clarity to the operation of jurisdictional -- and the appropriate state or federal court in which action should be brought. i support this legislation and appreciate the bipartisan effort that has been made on the part of mr. scott, the gentleman from virginia. i ask unanimous consent that the rest of my statement be made a part of the record, and i'll yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3114 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended. the bill is passed, and without objection, the most to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. scott: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4932 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6932, to establish the investigation and prosecution unit in the department of justice and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend my remarks and include extraneous material on the legislation under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scott: i yield myself as much time as i may consume.

h.r. 5932 directs the attorney general to establish an organized retail theft investigation and prosecution unit to prevent the growing problem of organized retail crime. theft from retail establishments has been a problem as long as stores have existed. the problem has gradually grown beyond simple isolated cases of shoplifting and burglary into something far more complex. it wasn't until 1980 that organized retail theft was recognized as a phenomenon, and the problem has continued to grow in volume, sophistication, and scope. today, sophisticated, multi-level criminal organization see a large amount of high-volume products focusing on small and easily resalable items and resale the goods through a variety of means, including flea markets, and the internet. sale of stolen items over the internet has evolved to the point where there's been a new crime phenomenon referred to as

"efencing," senating an estimated $30 to $40 billion a year, it affects everyone from the big box retailers to the small independent stores. this type of crime obviously has a direct impact on stores from whom the items are stolen. they are items in their inventory to sell and their efforts suffer. they must pass along the burden to the consumers in the form of higher prices. consumer safety is also at risk when retail crime organization steal consumeable products, especially over the counter drug items and infant formula, two popular items for organized theft rings. in many cases, the products are not stored properly, which can render the products ineffective or even dangerous. retailers spend lots of time and resources trying to prevent such steps and trying to catch the thieves, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. last year, the judiciary committee, a subcommittee on crime, held a hearing about the

role of the federal law enforcement in combating this type of crime. i was encouraged to see that agencies such as the f.b.i., immigration, and customs enforcement, the ice, secret service, and postal inspectors all play a role in investigating retail thefts. through this hearing, we learned that there is a definite need for involvement of federal law enforcement agencies in this area, because local enforcement agencies face unique challenges in combating organized retail theft. in particular, organized retail theft rings often operate in multiple jurisdictions, make it impossible for any one state or local law enforcement agency to investigate and prosecute them effectively. in addition, the internet has made it easy for such sellers to access a national, even international market for buyers of such stolen goods. the proceeds of these goods are often laundered with tremendous

sophistication. because of these challenges, i believe we must have a better coordinated and much more concentrated federal effort. h.r. 5932, accordingly, directs the attorney general to establish an organized retail theft investigation and prosecution unit comprised of federal prosecutors and investigators from the f.b.i., ice, secret service, and the postal inspection service. this unit will investigate and prosecute instances of organized retail theft under federal jurisdiction as well as assist local law enforcement agencies in their efforts against these crimes. i want to thank the retail and online community for their support of this bill, and i commend their efforts to find ways to work together on this effort. we've also received letters in support of the bill from a number of major business groups, including the coalition against retail crime, the food marketing institute, the national association of chained drug

stores, entertainment market, entertainment merchants association, the retail industry leaders association, and the national retail federation. e-bay has also expressed support for the bill. i ask unanimous consent that the letter from these organizations in support of h.r. 5932 inserted in the record at this point. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scott: i am pleased that this bill has a strong bipartisan support, and i would like to thank the committee chairman, mr. conyers, the ranking member, the the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and my colleague from virginia, mr. good let for co-sponsoring this important legislation and for their consistent commitment to this issue. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 5932 and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from texas. smith i yield myself as much time as i consume. mr. speaker, h.r. 5932 is an

important step in combating a crime that cost retailers and taxpayers billions of dollars every year. i am pleased to join my judiciary committee colleagues, chairman conyers, chairman scott, and congressman good lad northbound this legislation. this involves large quantities of merchandise from retail stores. unlike shoplifters, these thieves steal the merchandise with the intention of selling it back into the marketplace. in the past, these were resold at swap meets, flea markets, or pawn shops. today, the most popular venue is the internet. websites such as e-bay, craigslist, and amazon.com are being exploited by organized retail thieves to sell their stolen goods with relative ease. this dynamic makes it increasingly more difficult for retailers and law enforcement agents to identify and apprehend

these thieves. according to f.b.i. estimates, organized retail theft rings cost businesses more than $30 billion in losses annually. a recent survey conducted by the national retail federation found that nearly 90% of the retailers surveyed had been victimized by organized retail theft. an 11% increase from 2011. the survey also found that roughly six out of 10 retailers has seen an increase in organized retail theft in just the last 12 months. in 2003, the f.b.i. established an organized retail crime initiative to identify and dismantel large multi-jurisdictional organized retail crime rings. this initiative included the formation of a national retail federation, f.b.i. intelligence network. the network is intended to establish an effective means of sharing organized retail crime information and intelligence to discuss trends as they relate to specific sectors and regions of

the retail market and to identify and target the more sophisticated criminal enterprises. earlier this year, the national retail federation partnered with e-bay to develop greater information sharing between e-bay and participating retailers. this partnership is a significant step forward in the fight against organized retail theft. bringing these two industries together will hopefully increase the likelihood of linking thefts from retail stores to goods auved for sale on e-bay's website. h.r. 5932 builds upon these efforts by increasing the federal resources dedicated to organized retail theft investigation. the bill requires the attorney general to establish an organized retail theft information and prosecution unit within the department of justice. this unit will include representatives from the f.b.i., ice, u.s. secret service, and postal inspectorings as well as

prosecutors. the unit will investigate and prosecute and provide assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies. the unit will also work in consultation with retailers and online marketplaces to gather information about and identify trends in organized retail thefts. h.r. 5932 instructs the attorney general to prepare a report to congress on how retailers and law enforcement agencies can best combat this. the bill authorizes $5 million a year over five years to operate the unit. this legislation is supported by the national retail federation, the retail industry leaders association, the coalition against organized retail crime, the food marketing institution, the national association of chain drugstores, e-bay, and the entertainment merchants association. i'd like to thank my colleagues again, chairman conyers, chairman scott, and congressman

goodlatte for their dedication to this issue and for working together to draft this bipartisan legislation. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. mr. speaker, i'm going to reserve the balance of my time because i'm hoping that the individual whom i i just mentioned, mr. goodlatte, is on his way to the floor, and i hope he'll be able to speak on this bill shortly. so i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i have no further requests at the time. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman reserve? mr. scott: and therefore i reserve the balance -- mr. smith: i appreciate the gentleman's indulgence, but since our expected speaker is not yet on the floor and i'm not

entirely certain of the time of his arrival, although i am stalling slightly, i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: as it's been said, mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time, and i'd like to thank the the gentleman from texas for his strong support and my colleague from virginia to whom i yield such time as he may consume. c1 consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield? the gentleman from virginia is recognized. for as much time as he may

consume. mr. goodlatte: i rise in support of h.r. 5932, the organized retail theft investigation and prosecution act of 2010. this legislation is important step in combating a growing threat to retailers and consumers. i'm pleased to join my judiciary committee colleagues, chairman conyers, ranking member smith and chairman scott as an original sponsor of this legislation and i thank the gentleman for true bipartisanship in allowing me toll both catch my breath and give these remarks. organized retail theft is a huge and growing problem in the united states, according to fibe estimates. organized retail theft rings cost businesses more than $30 billion in losses annually. organized retail theft groups target anything from every day household products to baby formula that can be sold to swap meets, shady store front operations and online

marketplaces, they travel from retail store to retail store stealing from each store but stealing significant amount of goods. once stolen, these products are sold back to fencing operations that can repackage the goods and resell them often to the same stores. these goods are sold at flee markets, pawn shops and on the internet. when a product does not travel through the authorized channels of distribution,, the product has been reproduced or repackaged. these so-called diverted products pose significant health risks to the product, especially the diverted medications and food products. they cause considerable financial losses to manufacturers and retailers. the consumers bare the brunt of these as retailers are forced to

raise prices to cover the additional costs of security and theft prevention measures. even more troubling is where the money is going. we have seen evidence that organized retail theft is being used to fund international organized crime and other activities. at the state level, organized retail theft crimes are normally prosecuted under state shoplifting statutes as mere misdemeanor. they receive the same punishment as common shoplifters. the thieves who are convicted see limited jail time or placed on probation. i believe the punishment does not fit the crime. mere slaps on the wrists of these criminals has no deterrent effect. the low level criminals stealing these goods from the shelves are replaced from the organization of the higher coordinateors. during my eight years working on ways to combat organized retail

theft, the law enforcement community believed it had adequate laws, but that poor communication, lack of coordination among state and local law enforcement and lack of resources were major impediments to effective enforcement. in order to improve the communication and intelligence sharing between industry and law enforcement, i offered an amendment to the department of justice' re-authorization bill back in 2005 that created a federal definition of organized retail theft crimes and directed the fibe to contribute to the construction of a national data base housed in the private sector where federal, state and local law enforcement could compile evidence on specific organized retail theft crimes to aid investigations and prosecutions. this data base, which has now become the current net has put the pieces together to show the

organized and multistate nature of these crimes and provide evidence for prosecution. i'm pleased to report that the private sector is working together to address this problem. earlier this year, the national retail federation partnered with ebay to develop greater information sharing between ebay and participating retailers and will increase the likelihood that more organized retail theft will be detected and prosecuted. h.r. 5932 will build upon the successes of these efforts to provide additional resources to the f.b.i. to investigate. the bill's funds requires the attorney general to establish and organized retail theft investigation and prosecution unit within the department of justice. this unit will include representatives from the f.b.i., i.c.e., u.s. secret service and postal inspectors. they will investigate and prosecute retail theft and provide assistance to state and

local law enforcement agencies. the unit will work in consultation with retailers and online marketplaces to gather information about and identify trends in organizing retail theft. in addition, h.r. 5932 structs the attorney general to repair a report to congress how retailers and law enforcement agencies can best combat organized retail theft. this is supported by the retail leaders association, the coalition against organized retail crime, the food marketing institute, the national association of chain drug stores, ebay and entertainment merchants association. i wish to thank my colleagues, chairman conyers, ranking member smith and chairman scott for their dedication in working with me to draft this bipartisan legislation. and i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i yield back -- mr. scott: i yield back. mr. scott: the gentleman from texas has yielded back. and i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5932 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? >> i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to s. 3304, the 21st century communications and video accessibility act of 2010. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3304, an act to increase the ack of persons with disabilities for communications and other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes.

the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. speaker, i yield such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. markey: mr. speaker, i would like to begin by commending chairman boucher of the subcommittee for his incredible work on this issue along with chairman waxman, who dedicated a lot of time to making sure that this piece of legislation would come to fruition here this evening. i would like to thank chairman stearns, ranking member stearns on the minority side, along with mr. barton, ranking member of the full committee, mr. burgess and all of the minority members. this bill is, if you look it up in the dictionary, the words

bipartisan efforts, this bill number would be next to that effort. on july 26, the 20th anniversary of the americans with disabilities act, the house passed by an overwhelming bipartisan margin of 348 to 23 the 21st century communications and video accessibility act that i introduced last year to update the a.d.a. for the digital era. on august 5, the senate passed the companion bill by unanimous consent. and then on september 22, the senate unanimously passed the bill to make technical corrections to its companion bill. we are now taking up both of these bills and will send them after passage to the president to be signed into law. if you are an individual who is

blind, deaf or both, navigating an intersection can be a challenge, but navigating the internet can sometimes be even more difficult. and that's because laws to ensure equal treatment for americans with disabilities have focused primarily on things like wheelchair access rather than web access. that is about to change. at this historic moment, i would like to think that helen keller and annie sullivan are looking down and smiling. this picture was taken in 1888 in massachusetts on cape cod. whether it's a braille or broadband connection, access to technology is not a political issue but a participation issue.

each of us should be able to participate in the world to its fullest extent possible and the latest communication can enrich and ennobel our americans' experience and enrich their lives. coming out of our committee have been a whole series of legislative initiatives aimed at broadening access to americans who are disabled who are -- that we take for granted. we made sure americans who are deaf can make telephone calls. around the same time, 1990, we mandated that television shows be closed captioned for the deaf so she can enjoy the same entertainment and other programming as other americans. many say that closed captioning

is the single modern accessibility technology that has changed their lives the most. and in 1996, when the telecommunications act re-inserted language that required accessibility, requiring telephones, telephone calls, speed dialing, caller i.d. and related services. 20 years ago, the a.d.a. mandated physical ramps into buildings. today, individuals with disabilities need online ramps to the internet so they can get to the web from wherever they happen to be. from the time of helen keller and anie sullivan and through the americans with disability act through closed captioning and the ability for the deaf to make telephone calls and 21st

century, we have made important progress. we have moved from braille to broadcast, from broadband to the blackberry. annie sullivan used special language she spelled in helen keller's palm. in the 21st century, we have moved from tracing letters of the alphabet on a palm to navigating the palm pilot. and we must ensure that all of these devices are accessible to the deaf and the blind in our society. that's what this legislation does here this evening. annie sullivan was a dedicated and determined teacher. now technology needs to be the teacher, the constant companion providing instruction and access to the world and opportunities that otherwise would be out of reach.

helen keller did learn to speak and helen keller is still speaking to us tonight about how all of us should make the most of our abilities and participate in society to the fullest, but we need the technologies to make that possible being made accessible to each american. the bill we are considering tonight significantly increases accessibility for americans with disabilities to be indispensible public communications and video technology tools to the 21st century by getting on the web easier through improved user interfaces by smart phones and enabling americans throo audible descriptions through the onair action. making cable tv guides and selection menus accessible with vision loss. people who are deaf to watch new

tv programs online with the captions in -- included, mandating that remote controls have a button or similar mechanism to access broadcast or closed captioning pay tv. requiring that technology used to make calls over the internet is compatible with hearing aids, and for low-income americans who are deaf and blind, providing a share of the $10 million a year for funding to purchase accessible internet access and telecom services so they can more fully participate in our society. i thank my colleagues for their support for the landmark legislation and at this time, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. this bill will -- mr. burgess: this bill will allow those with disabilities to access communication and will prohibit companies from having proprietary technologies. the members of the committee on a bipartisan basis supported this legislation when it moved through the committee in the house in july. i want to commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for working with the minority. because of the work, this bill passed the house by a vote of 348-3. we are now considering the senate version to move the bill quickly to the president. unfortunately, the version from the other body originally included a number of significant technical errors. to fix those errors, they passed senate bill 3822 to make corrections to their work. as corrected, s. 3304, like the

house bill, includes language explicitly stating that the new provisions of the law shall not be construed to prove every feature and function to be accessible for every disability. further, it will create goals rather than impose mandates, allowing innovation to flourish. it allows manufacturers and providers to rely on third party solutions to achieve accessibility for people with disabilities. however, all businesses and their products are not created equal this bill recognizes that some small businesses and fledgling entrepreneurs may not be able to bear the financial burden of these new requirements, so there is the possibility of exceptions for small business. the legislation also contemplates waivers for some multifunction devices that are not primarily designed for advanced communication. it authorizes the federal

communications commission to grant waivers to address the concerns of the electronics community about small devices. i want to thank the majority for working together on this bill. i wish the rest of the legislation that's been considered in this congress could have been dealt with in such a collaborative process. with that, i ask my colleagues to support the bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: i thank the gentleman -- i thank the chair. again, i yield myself as much time as i may consume and i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to are revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on s. 3304. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. markey: i thank the chair very much. this bill has been several years in the making. it's going to have a transformative effect on the

lives of the deaf and blind in our country and ultimately in the world because the technologies we develop here will help all the deaf and blind be able to use information in this wireless world that all information is now migrating to. i want to thank roger sherman, tim powerly, sarah fisher, amy hevine, on the democratic side. will, on the republican side to colin cole on my staff for many years who helped conceptualize what we are doing today and especially to mark bexar on my staff who has worked tirelessly over the last year and a half to bring this bill to fruition. looking down, i think and smiling right now on this legislation, are karen pell strause, jennifer simpson, eric

bridges, mark rickert, larry goldberg, steve ross teen of the perkins school, mike fester of the carroll school, incredible advocates and the conscience of this, why we're here. i thank all who worked on this legislation. i urge an aye vote and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 3304. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? mr. markey: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to s. 3828, an act to make technical corrections to the 21st century communications and video accessibility act of 2010. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3828, an act to make technical corrections in the 21st century communications and video accessibility act of 2010 and the amendments made by that act. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent that all members have -- mr. markey: thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in

the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. markey: i rise to make corrections to the bill the house just passed, the crecks are technical in nature and once this bill passes, the house will send to the president lang marc legislation to update our country's accessibility laws for the internet age. again, i thank the minority for their cooperation on this historic legislation. it does show what good can be done when this institution works as it should. i thank my colleagues for their support and at this time, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: thank you, mr. speaker. i also urge our colleagues to support the technical corrections which are necessary to the previously passed bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. speaker, i have no other requests for time, so

with the request of this body in unison, vote aye on this historic legislation, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 3828. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 758 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 380, h.r. 758 a bill to amend title 4 of the public health service act and provide for the establishment of pediatric research consortia. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise today in strong support of h.r. 758, the pediatric

research consortia establishment act. the goal is to enhance the nation's research program into pediatric -- pediatric conditions by creating a strong research infrastructure. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i thank the speaker for the recognition. h.r. 758 the pediatric research consortia establishment act would allow up to 20 pediatric research groups to conduct resedge. it would allow but not require the national institutes of health to grant grants to nonprofit entities to pay for the cost of operating for up to 20 national pediatric research con shore shah.

these consortia would conduct basic clinical, social, and other research and provide treatment on advanced dige nottist -- diagnostic and treatment on pediatric diseases. they will provide greater access to vital research. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i will yield back the balance of my time. 13r0eu7 the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i also yield back the balance of my time and urge support for the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 758. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. -- h.r. 758 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. >> mr. speaker. mr. burgess: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make

a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and -- suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 2999 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar 384, h.r. 2999, a bill to enhance the veterinary public health work forest and education act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their

remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise in support of h.r. 2999, the veterinary public health amendment of 2010. veterinary health is an important component of our public health, from h1n1 to sars and other diseases, they are critical to our public health. this would ensure that the veterinarians would have access to public health programs but only to the extent they contribute to the public health. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 2999, the veterinary

public health work force and education act would take important steps to increase the number of public health veterinarians. veterinarians play a vital role in public health and there is a shortage this shortage will have a negative impact on our health, including the nation's food supply. this legislation will help solve the problem. h.r. 2999 would allow those seeking veterinarian degrees to be eligible for public health grant programs. it would also allow the awarding of public health grants. we worked on the language to make sure it is chris call clear that our nation's food animal veterinarians will be eligible under this bill. we need more food animal veterinarians. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey.% the gentleman from new jersey.

mr. pallone: i yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the ruse and pass h.r. 2999 as amended. those in favor say aye.. those opposed, no. -- mr. burgess: i object on the ground that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move the success suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 5354 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5354, a bill to establish an advisory committee on dibets to provide grants to better understand gestation national diabetes and for other

purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pa lon and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. as many as 135,000 women in the united states develop diabetes and this women is growing. many women develop type ii diabetes. they are at risk for high birth waringts. the act sponsored by representatives engel and burgess will expand resources available through the department of health and human services to fight this dangerous disease. i urge my colleagues to support

the bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 5 54. this bill has gone through regular order and passed the committee unanimously and i thank all the staff involved and mr. engel's office and mine. as a doctor, i witnessed the effect of diabetes on both mother and child. it is a growing problem and we don't know why. this has a different issue requiring a unique approach. it affects between 2% and 5% of pregnant women, 135,000 cases in the united states and occurs late in pregnancy. if left untreated, it can have a significant impact on both

mother and child. women and child affected are at higher risk of developing type ii diabetes and has additional health problems. in addition, once a mother contracts this, her chances are that it may return in future pregnancies, this act is a vital investment in our future. this bill will allow for the collection of data and study of risk factors and continued post-part umh evaluation and strategies that will lower the rates. for example, maternal obesity is a more important risk factor. than it is with simple glue kocin tolerance. this has the support of the american diabetes association, american association of doctors. currently an insufficient system

for monitoring diabetes to target populations. this legislation will go beyond what we do know and promote public health research to understand the factors that influence the risk of diabetes and type inch i diabetes. treatments are focused on diet and exercise. there needs to be greater understanding by both providers and patients how to treat this condition. they need to be identified. through targeted research we will be able to identify triggers in women with no previous risk factors. given the tremmed outs impact, i urge support of the legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time.

the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield back the balance of my time and i urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: seeing no further speakers. the increased episodes and can be due to age. the rates are higher among women of african americans, hispanic and asian american descent and there is an insufficient monitoring system which this legislation will begin to correct. i thank the speaker for the recognition and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5354 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i object that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20,

further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 2818. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. does the gentleman call for the bill as amended? mr. pallone: yes, i do. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 381, a bill to amend the public health service act to provide for the establishment of a drug-free workplace information clearinghouse to support methamphetamine treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women to improve the prevention and treatment of methamphetamine addition and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise today in strong support of h.r. 2818 the methamphetamine education, treatment and hope act or meth act introduced by representative mcnery. this updates h.h.s. programs for substance treatment, work education and youth. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i thank the speaker. h.r. 2818, the methamphetamine education treatment and hope act would re-authorize the

residential program for pregnant and low-income women. the program is only available for those receiving inpatient drug treatment. this would expand the scope to women who are receiving out-patient treatment. according to the administration, methamphetamine is a stimulus that is highly addictive and could have a severe impact on the individual's well-being. it would be given to areas in rural area that have high rates of addition. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would like to yield time at this point to the the gentleman from california, mr. mcnerney, who is the bill's sponsor and i thank him for his work on what is an important issue on which the meth crisis

is very severe. i would yield to the gentleman such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. mcnerney: i rise in support of h.r. 2818, a bill i was proud to introduce. methamphetamine use is a serious problem throughout the country, including california and my district. for instance, one recent survey indicates that meth use by children 12 years and older increased by 60 percent between 2008 and 2009. that's 154,000 new users of methamphetamine in 2009 compared to only 95,000 new users in 2008. children don't start using meth or other drugs without learning it from someone else and sadly, they are often introduced to it by adult family members. by improving federal treatment programs so they serve all

parenting women, h.r. 2818 enables mothers to receive the help they need. this bill will benefit mothers and children alike, addressing additions and reduce drug-related crimes and benefit children and families. it includes provisions that will ensure that the rural areas with a shortage of mental health professionals or family-based abuse treatment centers are provided the resources they need by focusing grants in areas with higher concentration of drug use, we can effectively use appropriated funds. i will put both members on introducing this bill, congressman bono mack joined me as an orange co-upon sore and this bill traveled through the legislative process and

constructive process by the members were incorporated to improve the legislation. improving meth treatment programs will help reduce crime and benefit children and i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan effort. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas has yielded. mr. burgess: i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2818 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. burgess: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam see secretary. the secretary: the senate has passed without amendment h.r. 1177 an act commemrative coin act. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move the suspend the rules and agree to h. res. 1485. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1485, resolution expressing support for the designation of september, 2010 as national prostate cancer awareness month. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will

control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i would yield to myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, h. res. lution house resolution 1485 expresses support for the designation of september, 2010 -- expresses the support for the designation of september, 2010 as national prostate cancer awareness month. i would like to thank representative neugebauer for his leadership on this issue and i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i would yield as

much time to the the gentleman from texas, mr. neugebauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. neugebauer: i rise today as the author of h. resolution 1485 to express support for the designation of september as prostate cancer awareness month by the house of representatives. i didn't know much about prostate cancer other than occasionally one of my friends would turn up with that diagnosis and every year when i went to the doctor, i went through the norm aal process of having an exam and p.s.a. and pretty religious doing that with the good news of a negative result. that changed in august of last year when i went for my test and it was decided that additional testing needed to be done and so the tests were done and it was determined that i did have prostate cancer. and once you get cancer, then you get a lot more interested in

that subject. and i wanted to share with the folks this evening a little bit about this prostate cancer. just in 2010 alone, 217,237 men will be diagnoseded with prostate cancer and 230 men will die from prostate cancer. 30% of the new diagnoses of prostate cancer will occur in men under 65. prostate cancer takes one life every 18 minutes. in the next 24 hour, prostate cancer will claim the lives of 83 american men. if a closer relative has prostate cancer, a man's risk of the disease doubles. with two relatives, his risk increases five times. with three close relatives, the risk is about 97%. african-american males suffer prostate cancer at a risk of -- at a rate of 65% higher than

white males and double the mortality rates of their white counterparts osmbeesity is a single predictor of severity of prostate cancer and the probability that the disease will lead to death. high cholesterol levels are strongly associated with advanced prostate cancer. if a man in the united states has one family member diagnosed with prostate cancer, he has a one in three chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer. what we learned is that this is a deadly disease. it affects men and the this -- and the survival rates, the good news, once i learned those facts, it got my attention, but nearly 100% of the men diagnosed with prostate cancer will survive five years. and 90% of the men whose

prostate cancer is found before it has spread will survive five years -- i mean 100%. this is a real health hazard for men but if caught early, treated early, the survival chances are extremely good. so that's the reason that i decided to bring this resolution before this house and to help bring awareness to the american people and particularly men is that it is important to make sure you get screened and make that a part of your annual physical and that if you do -- are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, the earlier you detect it, the better your chances of survival and eventual cure. i'm about to celebrate, on september 30, one year cancer-free. the reason i'm able to do that and the reason i'm able to stand before the body tonight

is because we have important research going on on how to treat this cancer. there's important research going on on hopefully someday being able to prevent prostate cancer. until then, it's important that men get screened, get their tests done so they too can stand and say, i survived prostate cancer. with that, mr. speaker, i urge the passage of this bill and urge all men get tested. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i have no additional speakers, i yield back the balance of my time and ask for passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i also want to thank our colleague from texas for sharing his story with us. just to reiterate, physical exams and blood tests are a main way of diagnosing the disease and all men should consult their physicians to

determine their course, especially those at most risk for the disease. i thank mr. neugebauer for this resolution which calls for continued research into the causes and potential cures for prostate cancer. i urge members to support h.res. 1485 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1485. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1347 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1347, a bill to

amend title 3 of the public health service act to provide for the establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines with respect to school-age children and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: fur sunt to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey -- pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: h.r. 1347, the contact act, will help reduce the number of concussion-related injuries nationally by improving the ability of schools to guide return to play decisions and raising awareness for parents, students, health professionals and others of the consequences for multiple concussions. i want to thank mr. shimkus and mr. barton for their

willingness to work on this bill with me and i thank the sponsor of the bill, mr. pascrell who worked so hard on this legislation. at this time, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: h.r. 1347 seek to reduce the number of concussions sustained by our young people. according to the centers for disease control and prevention, a concussion is a type of brain injury. 1.7 million people are estimated to sustain a traumatic brain injury each year, some of these sustained by children while playing sports. the bill would require the centers for disease control to develop model guidelines, address the identification and treatment of concussions in school age children, including the guidelines for children to return to play after a concussion. it would call for a group of

experts to determine these guidelines. the centers for disease control uses its existing fwouget reward grants if they deem them necessary, it does not create a separate funding source for the grants. i urge my colleagues to support the bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: at this time, i'd like to yield to the sponsor of the bill, my colleague from new jersey, mr. pascrell. i want to say he's worked tirelessly as an advocate for this bill doing investigation, having a hearing we held in the state of new jersey and as you know, he's very aggressive in a very positive way to make sure this bill came to the floor. i yield to the gentleman such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pascrell: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, as you know, speaker pelosi gaveled in the

110th congress on behalf of america's children. today i'm proud to say the house will consider this bipartisan bill to protect our children and youth -- in youth sports. as co-chair of the congressional brain injury task force, with congressman platts from pennsylvania, i've worked for the last nine years on the issue of brain injury for our troops as well as those who are playing sports. all sports. men and women. back then, we had no idea how prevalent brain injury would become. a study published this month in pediatric ares found that between 1997 and 2007, the number of children seeking emergency medical care for concussions doubled. to address this growing problem for schools, congressman platts and i introduced the contact act, h.r. 1347 to create federal guidelines to concussion management and a grant program for states to

implement the policies. this bill is dedicated to kids like brian doherty, a constituent of mine who died after returning to a football game without recovering from a previous concussion and nicky pupier, who suffered over 11 concussions from basketball. while we did not have the proper guidelines in place to protect them in the field of play, this bill would create federal guidelines, not by the congress but by professionals to protect other student athletes so they can excel not only in sports but in school. i want to thank speaker pelosi. i want to thank majority leader hoyer for recognizing the importance of bringing this bill to the floor. chairman waxman, chairman pallone for helping this particular bill through the committee process. i want to thank the organizations that supported the bill. that recognize its value for our citizens. the brain injury association, easter seals, the nfl, the nfl

players association, the parkinsons action network, the national athletic trainers association, national association of head injury administrators. the new jersey council of general hospitals and the american college of rehabilitation medicine. i reserve the balance of my time. this is a big deal for the kids that are our children, our grandchildren throughout the united states. thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you mr. minority leader. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yields back? mr. pascrell: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i have no additional speakers and yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1347 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules -- the gentleman from texas.

mr. burgess: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not prevent. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 6012 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6012, a bill to direct the secretary of health and human services to review uptake and utilization of diabetes screening benefits and establish an outreach program with respect to such benefits and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and

include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield to myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: h.r. 6012, sponsored by representative zack space of pennsylvania, -- i'm sorry, of ohio, is redine -- is designed to reduce the number of undiagnosed seniors with diabetes by introducing more of them to the h.h.s. screening benefit. i urge my colleagues to support this common sense legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: think gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 6012, the diabetes screening bill, would require the health and human services to review the utilization of diabetes screening tests available to seniors under medicare and make recommendations to screening. diabetes' cause is not known

but diet and exercise seem to play a role. approximately 50 million americans have a prediabetic condition. identifying those with diabetes early can reduce the risk of them developing costly and debilitating side effects of the disease. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h r. 6012 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

without objection, the title is amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. pallone: i move r.h. -- h.r. 1362 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 1362, a bill to provide for national registries for multiple sclerosis, parkinsons and other neurological diseases. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pa own -- pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each krill kohl 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise

and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i rise in strong support of h.r. 1362, the national neurological diseases surveillance system act of 2010. h.r. 1362 seeks to improve our understanding of multiple sclerosis, parkinsons disease and other neurological diseases by directing the centers for disease control and prevention to carry out systematic data collection, analysis and interpretation. i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 1362 and i reserve the balance of my time.and i reserv balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise tonight in strong support of h.r. 1362 which i authored with mr. van hollen. there are millions of americans living with some form of

neurologic disorder. i have been working to further research into the development of m.s. and other neurologic disorders to help the population of americans living with m.s. i believe that a national surveillance system will be a first step in allowing our researchers access to information that could be the key to finding cures. i was told we are running for second base to cure neurologic bases but we never tagged first. this bill, h.r. 1363, national neurologic diseases surveillance systems act is our first base. there is no formal system to track and collect data on these diseases. in fact, last natural study on the prevalence of m.s. was conducted 34 years ago. this research will help drive innovation and provide understanding as to how gender

and age influence. we will have the ability to creailt proceedings markers and construction of treatments for patients with similar backgrounds. we will be able to disseminate information and encourage high-risk populations to connect to available resources. this legislation will emphasize the study of neurologic disease and vital that we examine previous diseases as they relate to geography and heard ti in order to forecast future trends. we must have a foundation of research for the millions of americans that are suffering from these conditions. the act has wide support including the national m.s. society, parkinson's action network, among many others. i urge support for the bill. and i reserve the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i have no additional speakers. i don't know if the gentleman -- mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the bill before us reflects hours of staff negotiations and i want to thank ann and ryan as well as ray and mr. van hollen's office. this bill has passed unanimously and has come to the floor. i have spoken to medical students recently and i have told them that the tools and technologies they will have at their disposal will revolutionize their medicine. doctors who are struggling. with m.s. examinations generally reveals evidence of neurologic

disfunction. it is not science fiction to think that a scientist noticing a blood mark in certain patients will be able to use surveillance systems like the ones created under this bill to link it with occupations, and other demographic information. we will have the ability to create progression markers to help researchers compile the data. that's how well's get the treatments and cures for the next generation. future physicians will be able to tailor treatments and disseminate the information to connect to available resources. but we need to put in place the first building block, the evidence supports the role of environmental exposure to conditions like m.s. it correlates with high socioeconomic status which improves high sanitation. but we will not be able to

ensure until we can monitor on a significant basis. i want to reiterate my strong support and urge my colleagues to support and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1362. those in favor say aye. -- as amended. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to s. 3751. the speaker pro tempore: clerk the report the title of the bill. the clerk: an act to amend the stem cell therapeutic and research act of 2005.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: the stem cell therapeutic and research reauthorization act of 2010 is identical to legislation sponsored by representatives young and mat sue i h.r. 6081 and passed by voice vote by the energy and commerce committee. it would re-authorize the bill young cell transplantation program which includes the national registry for adult donors of bone marrow,

peripheral stem cells. the office of patient advocacy and stem cell outcome data base and re-authorize the national core blood inventory which is a program that provides grants to public core blood banks to assist them in coordinating core blood units that are listed on the national registry. it has strong bipartisan support and i urge my colleagues to support the bill. and i would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: at this point, i would like to yield to the the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, such time as he may consume. mr. smith: i thank my friend for yielding. mr. speaker, today the house will vote to re-authorize the stem cell and they are pute particular research act, the law that i along were representative

davis sponsored back in 2005. it created a new stem cell program designed to collect, derive, type and freeze core blood units for transplantation into patients to mit indicate and even cure serious disease and pursuant to the law will also provide stem cells for research. the new core blood program was combined in 2005 law when it expanded bone marrow initiatives crafted over several years by our distinguished colleague bill young. since the program was enacted in 2005, 12 core blood banks have received contracts with the health resources and services administration. earlier this year, they reported there was some 27,493 core blood units collected and 13,000-plus units will be collected with the funds that have been awarded. the re-authorization before us authorizes funds to be appropriated for 2011 through 2014 and $20 million for 2015

for the national core blood inventory and additional funds and $33 million for fiscal year 2015 for the bone marrow transplant program. it enhances studies, demonstration programs and outreach projects related to cord blood donations to include exploring innovation technologies, novel approaches and expanding the number of collection sites and expands the terms of contract extensions from three to five years making it easier for banks to engage in long term relationships with birthing hospitals and the cord blood banks to establish a plan for increasing cord blood unit collection in order to expand the number of collection sites in which they work and provide a plan for becoming self-sufficient. mr. speaker, each year over four million babies are born in

america. in the past, virtually every pla senta and umbilical cord was taught as medical waste. today, doctors have turned this medical waste into medical miracles. not only has god in his wisdom and goodness created the pla senta and umbilical cord to nurture and protect the life of an unborn child but another gift awaits us immediately after birth, something very special is very left behind, cord blood that is teaming with life saving stem cells. it remains one of the best kept secrets in america that umbilical and stem cells in general are curing people of terrible conditions and diseases. over 70 diseases in adults as well as in children. cord blood transplants are on the cutting edge of science for the treatment of leukemia.

in june, a researcher from the medical college of wisconsin said in treating luke keem yeah, cord blood is so flexible that it doesn't have to be an exact match. when you look at the outcome of leukemia-free survival, the likelihood of a patient, it is the same as transplanting using an adult graph from an adult donor or cord blood unit. results are found in children with leukemia who undergo cord blood transplants with 60% of patients alive and leukemia free at 60 months. in addition to treating blood cancers, clinical trials are under way for the treatment of other cancers such as breast and kidney and treating solid tumors. human clinical trials show promise in treating cerebral

palsy, met bottleic injuries, respiratory distress and spinal cord injury. cord blood stem cell transplants can cure sickle cell anemia affecting one out of one out of 500 african americans in america. the outlook of the legislation i should say that is before us has cleared the senate and will be can down to the president for his signature. the legislature lace out many important goals and benchmarks so more patients will be able to receive the treatment that they so desperately need. a doctor recently recently stated in a review of the success of cord blood trans

plantations. cord blood transplantation is an established field with enormous field and may emerge as the source of cells for cellular therapies focused on tissue repair it is a great bill and bipartisan and deserves the entire support of the entire body. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i reserve the balance of my time -- i'll go ahead and yield myself one minute and urge passage of s. 3751, the re-authorization of stem cell therapeutic and research act of 2005. the bill young cell transplant program supports patients with leukemia who need a marrow or cord blood transplant. one of the goals is to increase

the units. the program has been a success and re-authorization will allow it to continue the good work that was started in 2005. i urge my colleagues to support the bill. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3751. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. burgess: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1226 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution

1226, commending eyecare america for its work over the last 25 years. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 25 minute -- each will control 20 minutes. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 1226, recognizing eyecare america, part of the ophthalmology foundation for 25 years of service. i urge my colleagues to support house resolution 1226 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: thank you, mr.

speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: i commend -- i rise in support of this resolution, commending eyecare america. their vision is limit severe visual impairment by facilitating access to medical eye care. since its founding, its helped over one million people, making it one of the largest public services of its kind. it's also had over 7,000 volunteers. the highlights of what many of us have known for a long time, america's care -- americans care for one another and are willing to donate their time and energy to help others this work has been important. already over 40 million americans are near sighted or farsighted and the over -- and as the over 65 population grows, more americans are being diagnosed with age-related eye diseases such as mack la degeneration, glaucoma,

diabetic retinopathy and cat rarkts. by helping patients and by volunteers, eyecare america is doing its part to help prevent avoidable eye diseases. i would like to thank my fellow texan, gene green, for his work on the resolution. i congratulate eyecare america and its volunteers for their efforts over the last 25 years. as a physician and co-spon or of the legislation, let me say, keep up the good work. i urge members to support h.r. 1226. i urge my colleagues to support the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield back the balance of my time and ask for passage of the legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass house resolution 1226 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is passed and without objection e, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1032 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 379, h.r. 1032, a bill to amend the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act and the public health service act to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, streck and other cardiovascular diseases in women. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include ex-trainus material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may coffin sume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise in strong support of h.r. 1032, heart disease -- heart disease for women act. it's the number one killer of women. it expands the c.d.c.'s wise woman program which helps low income, uninsured an underinsured women by providing cardiovascular screenings and treatment. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: the heart disease education, analysis, research and treatment act for women would address heart disease and strokes. it would require the government

accountability office to conduct a study on the extend to which makers of new drugs follow current guidelines as far as providing trial day dta by jend an ethnicity and would require the committee to submit a report to congress by 2013 and annually thereafter on the quality of care and access to women with stroke and heart disease. it would re-authorize the wise woman program for five year, which provides benefits to uninsured and underinsured women at high risk of heart disease. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1032 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended --

mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 2408 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the tite they feel bill. the clerk: union calendar 371, h.r. 2408 a bill to expand the awareness activities of the society for arthritis and muss kiloskeletal defects and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will criminal 20 minutes. the chair yeck nices the -- recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their

remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise in strong support of h.r. 2408, the scler dermaresearch and aware -- the scleroderma research and awareness act. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: h.r. 2408 would expand research and education for scleroderma. there are an estimated 300,000 people in the united states who have this disease the exact causes are still unknown but scientists an investigators in a wide variety of fields are working to make that determination.

it's a connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune diseases. this will provide the department of health and human services flexibility to help us in the fight against scleroderma in the following ways. it would allow but not require the director of the department of muss kiloskeletal diseases to expand and intensify research into the disease. it would allow but not require that the health and human services secretary to carry out an educational campaign to increase public awareness of the disease. this bill underwent some important modifications at the committee level. i think it is a better bill for that bipartisan effort. i do urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2408 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. burgess: mr. speaker. i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 5986. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5986, a bill to require the submission of a report to congress of diseases in poor americans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. mr. pallone: i ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous

material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise in strong support of h.r. 5986, the neglected infections of impoverished americans act of 2010. this bill requires a report that will help c.d.c. and congress determine the best and most effective next steps for addressing neglected infections of poverty in the united states. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: h.r. 5986, the neglected infections of impoverished americans act of 2010 would require a report on issues of poverty, including parasitic diseases. research suggests that poor citizens are infected by

infections including parasites. the report would provide the information to guide future health policy so we can accurately evaluate the current state of knowledge concerning such diseases and to find gap -- define gaps in the knowledge to reduce the threat of such illnesses. it's a worthwhile endeavor, it's been significantly modified by the process and i urge my colleagues support and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i also yield the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5986? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the

house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1995 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1995, a bill to amend the public health service act to prevent and treat diabetes to promote and treat the -- improve the care of those with diabetes and reduce health disparities relating to diabetes witness racial and ethnic minority groups, including african-american, asian-american, native hawaiian and other pacific islander and american indian and alaska native communities. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: h.r. 1995, directs the secretary of health and human services to submit a report to congress on the department's reserge and other public health -- research and other public health activities with respect to diabetes among minority populations. i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 1995 and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: h.r. 1995 would authorize a study on how diabetes affects those with -- affects those with health disparities. diabetes affects an estimated 24 million americans, approximately 57 million americans have a prediabetic condition. type 1 die bee feese is a result which results from the body's fail wrur to produce insulin. type two, which is more common,

results from the body inability to make enough insulin or quse insulin or the body is peripherally resistant to insulin. an astonishing 6% of the world's population is affected by dee diabetes, causing six deaths a minute and 3.2 million deaths yearly. in the united states we spend over $200 billion a year on diabetes, yet the mortality rate from are diabetes for texas was 27 deaths per 100,000 persons. for my african-americans and latino it was higher. s the state's sixth leading saws of death this would allow us to understand if minorities have a higher rate of diabetes, understand the reasons for that rate and provide relief for this condition. i urge my leagues to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker.

i yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1995 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended. amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition. mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1230 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1230, a bill to amend the public health service act to provide for the establishment of a national acquired bone marrow registry to acquire research on diseases and information other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from

texas, mr. burgess each will control 20 minutes. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include he extraneous material in the record. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: h.r. 1230 sponsored by the gentlewoman from california, representative matsui, promotes research by h.h.s. on acquired bone marrow failure disease, including the study and trends in individuals who are diagnosed with the disease including age, ethnicity, sex and it is my understanding that are former bob matsui passed away from this and it is not only important to congresswoman matsui but to all of us. i urge all of us to support this legislation and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance

of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: h.r. 1230, bone marrow failure disease and treatment act would allow research on acquired bone marrow failure diseases and allow the secretary to conduct additional research on acquired bone marrow diseases in figuring out the causes of the disease and diagnose and care for individuals. the bill would allow the secretary to establish outreach programs that would help minority populations who are disproportionately affected by such acquired bone marrow diseases in finding clinical trials and other sopshons. i urge my colleagues to support this. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would yield back the balance of my time and urge that the house pass this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1230 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in -- mr. burgess: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 2941 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2941, a bill to reauthorizeize and enhans johanna's law to increase public awareness to gynecologic cancers. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks

and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise this evening in strong port in h.r. 2941 a bill to reauthorize johanna's law and reauthorizes a program to promote awareness of gynecologic cancers. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. h.r. 2941, a law to reauthorize johanna's law was signed into law at the end of the 109th congress and directed to carry out a national campaign to increase awareness of gynecologic cancer. ginecolic cancers affects 76,000 women.

and 27,000 died from their disease. h.r. 2941 would authorize to continue the nation wide campaign and calls for the secretary to award grants to nonprofit private entities to carry out demonstration projects and would test outreach and testing strategies to increase knowledge of women and doctors regarding gynecologic cancer. i urge my colleagues to support. i yield back. mr. pallone: i yield back and i urge passage. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate h.r. 2941 as amended. those in favor say aye. the question is will the house

suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2941 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the -- the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i object to the vote on a ground the quoffer rum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition. mr. pallone: i move the house success pebbed the rules and agree to h.r. 546 as amended. the clerk: union calendar number 382, h.r. 546 , a bill to authorize the secretary of health and human services acting through the dect tore of the disease control and prevention to establish and implement a birth defects risk reduction and public awareness program. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 0 minutes.

mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: h.r. 5462 the birth defects prevention risk reduction and awareness act would award grants for evidence-based clinical information to mothers about exposures during presenting nancy and breast feeding. i thank my colleague for her leadership on this issue and so many issues that affect mothers and children. at this time, i would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 5462 birth did he febts prevention, risk reduction and awareness act

of 2010. this bill would develop over a period of several months with the guidance for the centers of disease control. this bill came a long way in a short period of time where we did our due diligence. i have dedicated my professional career protecting mother and child while providing most accurate information possible. people like to think doctors have all the answers. doctors like to think c.d.c. can provide the information but that isn't the way it works. i can't tell you the number of times women came into the hospital late at night concerned about the health of her baby, maybe it was something she had done, but this type of unnecessary utilization can be reduced physically among populations that may not have the same information. it will provide mothers with up

to date evidence-based information through services designed to do targeted research. we have such a service in texas. i used them when i was in practice. they subserving 4% of our pregnant population but only able to serve 3,000 persons today. those cases are important, but i know we can do better. many women with chronic diseases may reduce medications due to fears about birth death effects. they pose a lower risk than the failure to treat and appropriately manage the under lying disease during pregnancy. they provide information and expert consultation to pregnant women and health care providers regarding exposures to chemicals, drugs, alcohol infections and illness that may pose a risk. these services provide information on risks during

breast feeding. the information reduces unnecessary concern about perceived risks ander sure women stay on the path to a healthy pregnancy. federal agencies are only providing awareness about information about breast feeding but not risk assessment and education counseling. this will establish a grant program to revite lization the network of information services. this will help save health care costs and reducing the costs of treating uncontrolled con chiropractic illness when they discontinue their medications unnecessarily. i urge your support for this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i have no additional speakers. i would just yield the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i yielded -- i yield myself such time as i may consume. this has the support of the american academy of pediatrics, march of dimes foundation amongst many others. i urge support of this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5462 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 -- mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1210 as amended.

the clerk: union calendar number 378, h.r. 1210, a bill to amend the public health service act to provide for research, public health and other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous remarks and mr. speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise this evening in strong support of h.r. 1210, the arthritis prevention, control and cure act of 2010. this bill provides for enhanced public health efforts at c.d.c., research activities at n.i.h. and new authorities at the health resources and service administration to support training for new pediatric

doctors. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i yield myself such time as i may consume. h.r. 1210 would enhance our nation's efforts to combat arthritis. i'm a co-sponsor of the legislation. an estimated 46 million americans have arthritis and the number is expected to increase as the country's population ages. they estimate that almost 300,000 children have arthritis. this will help in the following ways. the bill would authorize the secretary of health and human services to establish a national plan. it would allow the department of health and human services to award grants for research, surveillance and education. third, the bill would permit the national institutes of health to expand its research into children with diseases. the bill would allow health and

human services to reward grants to increase the number of rheumatoid doctors. i have spoken to several who have discussed the importance of this legislation. unfortunately, those in need of rheumatoid doctors often have very few options. this bill is a very important first step. i'm a co-sponsor of the legislation and i urge my colleagues to support the bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1210 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed ..

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. pallone: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 903. the speaker pro tempore: clerk will report the bill. the clerk: a bill to amend the public health service act to enhance the roles of dentists and allied dental personnel in the nation's disaster response framework and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman wish to suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended? mr. pallone: yes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone and the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, each will control 20 minutes. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i

would like to include in the record an exchange of letters between chairman waxman and chairman thompson who is chairman of the homeland security committee, regarding this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise in strong support of h.r. 903, the dental emergency responder act of 2010. this bill amends the public health services act to include dentists in the national health security strategy, which is the strategy h.l.s. developed to respond to a public health emergency. i would particularly like to thank representative stupak for all his work on this bill. i urge my colleagues to support the bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: h.r. 903 would allow the department of health and human services to allow

dentists to respond to medical emergencies. it amends the homeland security act to include dentists within the emergency response provider. there's been uncertainty as to whether dentists could be emergency response providers. this also urges the -- also appoints the department of homeland security to serve as the center for dental emergency providers. it amends another act to allow if necessary operational plans developed by other agencies with responsibilities under the national response plan to address preparedness and deployment of dental resources. this bill was drafted to ensure that congress was not prescriptive as to how the department of homeland security should plan for medical

emergencies. the bill provides these departments increased flexibility to utilize additional professional expertise and capacity if they feel it is appropriate. this is just common sense. the fact that today the department of health and human services, the department of homeland security could not talk to a dental school where it is decided it would be an ideal to stockpile materials like vaccines but could if it was a medical school is absurd. if these facilities can aid our national defense or a dentist wants to be included in the nation's post-disaster response, the fact that the government felt constrained to include them is a gross oversight that this bill corrects. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i would also like to include in the record an exchange of letters between chairman wax month of -- waxman of my committee and chairman oberstar of the public works

and transportation committee that per tears to this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time, i yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 903 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes, to revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous material. in each case -- mr. mcgovern

for five minutes, mr. defazio for five minutes, ms. woolsey for five minutes, ms. kaptur for five minutes, mr. sherman for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous condition sonet that today following -- mr. gohmert: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business the following members may be permitted to address the house, revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous material. burton, today, september 23 -- i'm sorry, september 29 and 30, five minutes each. mr. franks, september 29, five minutes, mr. forbes, september 29 for five minutes, mr. broun september 29 for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. mcgovern. mr. poe. ms. woolsey. mr. jones. mr. defazio. mr. burton. ms. kaptur. mr. sherman. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. it's always an honor to be

here. we've had quite a day of different suspension bills. it's been an interesting day all the way around. i also was honored to have a visit from the new president of baylor university, a man named president ken starr, i think he'll do a great deal of good for baylor university. in fact, i'm wearing a green and gold tie in his honor and in honor of the school where i got my law degree. a lot is going on. we haven't had time to take up the issue of extending -- extending the current tax rates for another year, so business could be sure about what's going to be happening. so they could go ahead and make plans. make those additional hires.

take those folks off the unemployment rolls because they would finally know what the future holds in the way of taxes. but that was not to be. no, instead, we've taken up 85, reduced by one, 84 suspension bills. all done today. in a bipartisan manner. and it does bring to the fore the question as to why couldn't we do the same thing in a bipartisan way to help the economy? we're hearing over and over from business people, there's so much uncertainty, if we're really going to have this massive tax increase come january 1, we've got to hunker down and get ready. we may have to let more people go so we can pay the additional tax burden that the federal government is going to lay on them.

they made clear that if we're going to pass what the well-respected on both sides of the aisle former chairman of energy and commerce, mr. dingell called not just a tax but a great big tax, the crap and trade bill, if that's still looming out there, then that is a potential albatross around the neck of employers. they need to move forward. but mr. dingell is exactly right, it's a great big tax. it's still looming out there. it's still a threat to be taken up in a lame duck session. in fact, the lame duck session after the election in november could be devastating to our economy. as if we haven't already done enough.

we've got not only the crap and trade bill looming, and being threatened as a potential lame duck session bill. in which members of congress would be asked to vote who had already lost their jobs on lech day. but we've got other bills hanging out there, some have said they would like to see come up during the lame duck session. one such bill is on the other side of the aisle affectionately known as card check, which is really intriguing. card check, quite a misnomer, because it would provide for the elimination of secret ballots in union elections. deciding whether a group were to go union or not. i was intrigued in the last congress, we were voting on

card check, and the majority leader of the house of representatives, the honorable steny hoyer, came down this aisle right over here and i was standing over there and i said, leader, and he turned around and said, yes, i said, the rumor is you're going to vote against your party and vote against card check. and he said, well the odds of that happening are infinitesimal. he's got a great sense of humor. i pointed out, well, it's just that everybody on the floor knows that if it were not for the secret ballot, john murtha would have been elected majority leader. and he just laughed and said, you're so funny, and moved on. but the truth is the speaker of the house already said she wanted john murtha to be majority leader. we've already seen that this speaker of the house is amazing

at the wielding of power. been far more effective at the wielding of power, both with carrots and sticks, to get things done than our speaker was my first two years here in 2005-2006. she knows thousand wield power. and -- she knows how to wield power. she said she wanted john murtha to be majority leader, jet steny hoyer of maryland won the election. why? because there was a secret ballot and the will of the democratic party here in the house was that steny hoyer be the majority leader. so because of the secret ballot, because there had been no card check bill that had been rammed through to change the rules in the house of representatives, here in the house of representatives, there was still a secret ballot. when i was growing up, mount

pleasant, texas, i went through public schools. i'm pretty sure most of my teachers i had voted in the democratic primary, voted for democratic candidates. and i had some wonderful teachers. they inspired me. they instilled in me that the secret ballot is such a foundational block of any society that wants to have free elections, that to withdraw that would bring the whole political building down. would subject you to a tyranny. so it's absolutely staggering that people who would come in here and be protected with sect